Advertisement

August featured events

Campania - The Stracittadina cittą di Airola is held in Airola, between Napoli and Benevento. Airola is a small town founded before 997 aD. The course is a flat 5k (repeat it twice to run the longer event) with views of the castle ruins. There is a goodie bag for all finishers, but can pay a nominal entry fee (1 euro) with no final prize. At the end of the race you can taste local food specialties. www.stracittadinadiairola.it

Emilia Romagna - Ask any Italian, and they all will know Brescello, a small town in the Reggio Emilia province, hosting the Camminata di Peppone e don Camillo. The two characters to whom this fun run is dedicated are from a popular humorous book (and then movie) series written by Giovannino Guareschi. The popular stories center on the hot-tempered priest Don Camillo and his eternal rivalry with Giuseppe "Peppone" Bottazzi, the Communist mayor of a small town in post-World War II Italy, where everybody knows everybody. www.germanolanzi.altervista.org

Friuli Venezia Giulia - Each year in August the local tourist office in Corgnolo, near Udine, welcomes runners to the Marcia del toro (Running of the bull). Nothing to do with the Pamplona one - in this case the bulls are not running after the participants but slowly cooked for more than twenty hours on a spit during the annual "sagra" (food festival). The running event features three distances - 21k, 12k, and a shorter 7k course. www.prolocodicorgnolo.it

Lazio - The point-to-point Amatrice-Configno race is held in Amatrice, in the Lazio region. It is an 8.5k competitive event starting at 4 p.m. with prizes for the first 500 participants. The town of Amatrice is especially famous for the "sugo all'amatriciana" pasta sauce - according to popular tradition, numerous cooks of the Popes down the centuries came from Amatrice. www.amatriceconfigno.it

Lazio - The Roma by Night Run is a half marathon that will offer the participants the opportunity to enjoy the Eternal City at night, running under the starry sky, along the Tiber river and by historic bridges and monuments. A shorter 7k option is also available. The event ends with a musical "aperitivo" before the traditional midnight pasta party. www.romabynightrun.it

Liguria - The Marcia mare e monti di San Lorenzo is held in Framura, at a short distance from the renown Cinque Terre. You can choose to run or walk either the 6k or the 12k course. The event starts from the San Lorenzo church. Featuring a coast of vertical rocks, holm-oaks, pinewoods and vineyards, old marble quarries, cliffs, and small pebbly beaches, Framura is also a few kilometers away from the quaint village of Portofino. www.comune.framura.sp.it

Piemonte - If you like trail or skyrunning, do not miss the Scarfiotti/Sommeiller. It is a 7k point-to-point mountain race. The start is from the alpine shelter Scarfiotti, near the town of Bardonecchia, on the border with France. The finish is more than one kilometer uphill, on the top of the Sommeiller mountain near the glacier bearing the same name. After the race is over, runners will need to return by foot along the same route. www.sge20.com

Trentino Alto Adige - The Raiffeisen 3/4 mezza maratona is held in Brunico, the largest town in the Puster Valley in the Italian province of South Tyrol. More than 80% of the population here speaks German, 15% Italian and the remaining use the minority language called Ladin. The race measures three-fourths of a half marathon, that is 17.6k. The start is at 5 in the afternoon. www.3viertelhalbmarathon.com

Trentino Alto Adige - The Maddalene sky marathon is a fascinating skyrunning event on the Maddalene mountains, on the linguistic and cultural border between the Val di Non, the Deutschnonsberg and the Val d'Ultimo valleys in the Trentino Alto Adige region. The course starts from Senale and follows the Italian Alpine Club trail n. 133 - it is slightly longer than a marathon (44.2k) with a 3000 meters positive elevation and a 3200 meters negative elevation. www.maddaleneskymarathon.it

Veneto - The Camminata dell'uva ("Walk of the grapes") is held in the town of Sarcedo, near Vicenza. The event features several non competitive courses for runners of all levels - 7k, 11k, 15k, and 21k (half marathon) - on hilly roads winding through the local vineyards. Watermelons are usually served at the final refreshment place. www.gpilsorrisosarcedo.it

Veneto - A fascinating fun run is held in the evening in Treschč Conca, in the province of Vicenza. The race La vaca mora, literally "the black cow" (this is how the local farmers nicknamed the steam locomotive), is a point-to-point 10k along the old local railroad. The course is entirely lit with torches. www.trescheconca.com

Veneto - The Alpago sky super 3 is a point-to-point 18.8k trail run taking place in Lamosano, near Belluno, and finishing in Chies d'Alpago. The non-marked course features breath-taking views over the local Prealps, the foothills at the base of the European Alps, with a 1-mile positive elevation. www.dolomitiski-alp.com